At the west side of the main house, George Steedman designed and had built a large workshop, complete with a casting furnace, forge, tools (many self-crafted) and space for tons of raw materials that he used for silver, bronze and aluminum casting as well as wrought iron work. In that workshop "the blacksmith" was in his element, happily producing everything from switch-plates, vases and urns to a massive set of garden furniture cast in aluminum to replicate old Spanish tables and chairs made of wood and quilted leather.

In addition to his life as a craftsman, Steedman pursued other interests with equal energy. When his wife began winning awards for her camellias, he used his silversmithing talents to create vases in which to display them. He then photographed the vases of flowers and developed the photos in his darkroom beneath the workshop - where he might also have enjoyed a glass of his own wine, expertly made and stored in the private lower level winery!

A few minor buildings were added in the early 1930s - a lath house and potting shed, a garage, and a guest cottage built for daughter Medora and her son George to use during a 1932 visit. Then all work on the estate was completed and it looked much as we see it today.

Inside and out, Casa del Herrero is Andalusian in spirit. Like the architecture and gardens of southern Spain, it retains a sense of mystery, with a surprise around each corner as the house reveals itself one room at a time, disclosing along with its Spanish elements hints of the Mediterranean and Moroccan.

This theme is continued on the grounds in a series of small Moorish gardens, designed as outdoor "rooms." Each one is enclosed by hedges, trees and unusual plantings, and centered with tiled Moorish fountains and water channels. On the south side of the house, the view from the main terrace follows a long "garden axis" with five fountains flowing from one to the other by means of gravity. George Steedman not only planned the engineering concept of the water course, but he designed the decorative fountain tiles himself and had them crafted in Tunisia.

Spanish and Moorish tiles may, in fact, be the most indelible memory a visitor carries away from Casa del Herrero. They are everywhere: covering every inch of a bathroom's surface in exotic patterns, bordering another room with charmingly primitive animals, brightening the walls around doorways and windows, or, to the east of the house, forming an exciting multicolored facade on the beautiful exedra (garden wall with attached benches and fountain patio). Decorative tile even appears on the pump house, which was designed in 1928 by Plunkett & Edwards, then one of Santa Barbara's foremost architectural teams. Covering the deep artesian ell that provided water for the Steedman estate, the pump house - situated north of the property on Picacho Lane - was built in Spanish Revival style with an impressively tiled facade.

Every part of Casa del Herrero is a personal extension of George Steedman and his passion for the Gothic: the amazing octagonal library room Lutah Riggs designed for him based on a French medieval chateau tower, the fanciful faces and figures that Steedman himself painted on the vaulting of his favorite patio, and, from a Spanish monastery, the fifteenth-century ceiling that dominates the entry hall. Perhaps the most personal touches of all are the Gothic birdhouses Steedman built and put up around the estate, relishing the addition of each handcrafted detail. On one, near the southeast corner of the house, he lettered these lines in an antiquarian's script:

George Steedman died in 1940 and his wife continued to live at the estate for the next 23 years until her death in 1963. Their daughter Medora Steedman Bass lived at Casa del Herrero and devoted the rest of her life to keeping the estate essentially as it was when her parents were alive. After her death in 1987, the property was placed in trust, with her son George S. Bass as sole trustee, or the eventual donation to a charity or non-profit organization. Toward this goal, George Bass has enlisted the aid of several interested local people to form the Casa del Herrero Foundation, which will own and operate the estate for the benefit of the community. The Foundation plans to preserve Casa del Herrero as a living museum to be enjoyed by those interested in its history and unique beauty. Members of the Foundation hope to protect Casa del Herrero as a treasured community resource.

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